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The Roman satirist Juvenal wrote in AD 82 of rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno ("a rare bird in the lands, and very like a black swan"). [6] He meant something whose rarity would compare with that of a black swan, or in other words, as a black swan was not thought to exist, neither did the supposed characteristics of the "rare bird" with which it was being compared.
The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage, but the Southern Hemisphere species are mixed black and white. The Australian black swan ( Cygnus atratus ) is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings; the chicks of black swans are light grey.
The black swan was a literary or artistic image among Europeans even before their arrival in Australia. Cultural reference has been based on symbolic contrast and as a distinctive motif. The black swan's role in Australian heraldry and culture extends to the first founding of the colonies in the eighteenth century.
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[4] [15] Among standard measurements of the mute swan, the wing chord measures 53–62.3 cm (20.9–24.5 in), the tarsus is 10–11.8 cm (3.9–4.6 in) and the bill is 6.9–9 cm (2.7–3.5 in). [4] The plumage is white, while the legs are dark grey. The beak of the mute swan is bright orange, with black around the nostrils and a black nail.
Black-necked swan Black-necked swan at the San Francisco Zoo, USA Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) CITES Appendix II (CITES) Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Genus: Cygnus Species: C. melancoryphus Binomial name Cygnus melancoryphus (Molina, 1782) Synonyms Sthenelides melancoryphus Cygnus ...
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The swan was "cemented in the imagination as a creature of romance for a whole generation of impressionable working class suburban kids". The anthropomorphic projection may not have been entirely random; [2] swans are believed to take a mate for life, and the graceful white birds might symbolize monogamous felicity. [2]